Ghosts (Phenomenon)
Ghosts are a paranormal phenomenon found throughout the Metro and Surface. They appear as the shadows of people who have died in the Metro and are unable to cross over due to what Khan describes as an "atomized purgatory." They are currently perceived as the ultimate fate of everyone in the metro. Overview The exact nature of ghosts is unknown, but as far as can be determined, they appear to be of supernatural origin. Ghosts are dangerous yet mostly inert and non-hostile entities, capable of damage upon listening to the sound of them in pipes, and capable of killing upon physical contact. Ghosts can only be seen and avoided when using the flashlight; and even then, visually, ghosts appear faint. In general, ghosts bear a strong resemblance to the "blast shadows" created when a nuclear bomb explodes and burns an outline of a body caught in that blast into a wall or other surface. With nowhere to go, these souls of the dead haunt the lost tunnels and ruins of Moscow for eternity, forever forced to live out their last moments over and over again. These specters do not seem to understand that they are dead, and some of them continue to faithfully perform the duties that they had in life - for example, ghostly defenders can be seen at a barricade. Ghosts are not always of human origin, in Metro 2033, a train is seen passing the tunnel it crushed over and over again. Also, mutants and Dark Ones might turn into ghosts. Ghost can also appear more or less bloody instead of a plain black color. However these Bloody Ghosts, despite look threatening, are still non-hostile. Like anomalies, ghosts are more of a neutral phenomenon than the evil most of the metro perceives them as. To the wise or spiritually attuned such as Khan, however, they can vary. While evil spirits such as the Great Door are present and seek only to kill or turn insane any that approaches them, other entities such as the River of Fate hold more of a benevolent stance to humanity. According to Khan, when earth was destroyed, heaven and hell were atomized as well. While little additional information is given, it can be thus assumed that these spirits of the dead are unable to cross into the afterlife. Thus, they are forced to relive their death over and over again. Sub-Variants Darkness The Darkness 'is an unofficial term for a type of ghost-related phenomenon found in Metro Last Light. It is only encountered in three levels of Metro Last Light, most prominently in Undercity and briefly in Khan and The Dead City. The anomaly is invisible, shapeless, non-hostile, and otherwise unnoticeable, with exception to its effect. Upon entering and exiting the designated area of darkness, Artyom's field of view becomes fragmented and distorted for several seconds, and an electric zap is heard. If the player attempts to utilize any light besides Artyom's Lighter or the few torches and candles scattered throughout the areas the darkness is found in, the screen will once again distort, and the light will be immediately disabled. It is worth noting that the disruptive effects of the anomaly are not tied down to any one location, and can apparently appear and disappear at a moments notice. When encountered during the level Khan, the darkness suddenly took hold in an area that had previously been unaffected, causing the lightbulb on a discarded-but-running headlight to go out. This hints that the darkness in always moving as sort of a cloud of mist. A ghost story told by a group of enemies in Bandits seems to corroborate this, with the bandits explaining that they encountered the darkness in the form of a black mist in a dark tunnel. Moreover, it would also appear that the effect of disabling electrical illumination is not indiscriminate, as NV scopes, laser sights and reflex sights continue to function normally. The Night Vision Goggle is the only exception that cannot be used while the darkness is in effect, despite its smaller counterpart, the IR scope still funtions in the darkness. In one case, the lights illuminating a drainage tunnel still continued to function despite being within the affected area. The darkness acts as a tool and signal for the developers to forcefully and intentionally signal a slow-down in pace and a build-up in atmosphere.The player is thus forced to proceed into an area with only the flame of the lighter to show the way, which has the effect of making them pay closer attention to their surroundings and take notice details that may otherwise go ignored. Damned Souls 'Damned Souls is one of many fan-terms for ghosts appearing on the surface in Red Square. Damned souls manifest as the upper body or arms of restless, immobile beings trapped in a limbo between life and death and gathered to the "centre" of Moscow - where all roads lead to. The Dark One states that they do not know they are dead but that they are terrified and lonely, grabbing onto anyone that ventures near because they wish for someone to stay with them. As such, the damned souls are the only type of ghost that could be considered "hostile" to Artyom, as well as the only ones in Last Light capable of hurting or killing him, should he not follow the the Dark One at a fast enough pace, he will start to take damage (as a warning sign of not following close enough), and eventually dies. Upon first contacting the Damned souls, the Dark One saves Artyom from the damned souls and leads him out of their domain. Later, after viewing Pavel's memories, Artyom and Pavel are dragged into a pit of damned. Here the player is given a choice to have Artyom save Pavel, or leave him to join the damned, killing him. Leaving Pavel to die at the hands of the damned souls might serve as a metaphor for Artyom simply not putting a new filter into Pavel's gas mask, and as a result he suffocates. In the Novel Ghosts do not appear in the Metro 2033 novel, however early on Artyom hears a tale in which one wanderer ventures to cross from Tulskaya station to the end of the line that is completely abandoned. Once in the Sevalstopolskaya Station, the wanderer sees a silent but completely functional train with its blinding lights, passing away from the platform to the tunnel, full of ghosts. Only the laugh of a child can be heard from the ghost train. It is, however, from time to time implied that ghosts exist, but it is never confirmed nor denied. Metro 2034 however, sheds light on the existance of phantoms at Nagornaya. Very little is known about their appearance, exept that they are giants partially obscured by the fog of the station. The Nagornaya phantoms will try to confuse any who enter the station, and kill the youngest of a group to supposedly consume their life force. Appearances Metro 2033 Ghost appear as unhostile but deadly phenomenons in Metro 2033. When they are encountered, they are always reliving the final moment of their life, and when they are killed any unlucky soul near it will die as well. All ghosts seen are black shadows, and require a flashlight to see them clearly. * Chase - Artyom collides with the ghost of a dark one, causing him to pass out and dream, where he sees Hunter shoot one. There are also many ghosts of men and children around the edges of the tunnel while on the cart in the bypass tunnel. **Since there is a ghost of a dark one here, it might possibly mean that someone killed one right here, and it is infinitely reliving its final moments. Since Artyom sees Hunter shoot it, it is likely that Hunter killed this dark one on his way to, or from Exhibition. Colliding with it, if it is in fact a ghost, and entering its mind games proves that even its ghost still has telepathic powers or maybe the contact with a ghost may cause the person to see the ghost's last moments. *Lost Tunnels - Though many players miss/forget about the encounter, ghosts can be heard by sitting and listening to the pipes Bourbon points out. The pipes in Ghosts contain child's laughter. This pipe can be listened to again in the level: ghosts. There, if the player does not heed Khan's warning about not staying for too long, the player will be confronted with a loud, tormented scream from a child and is pushed away from the pipes. *Ghosts - Throughout the whole level, Khan gives Artyom some background on them. Here they encounter the ghosts of people, soldiers, nosalises, and even a ghost train. This dates some of these ghosts back to the nuclear incident that scorched the Earth, since the tunnel this ghost train uses is intact, then it suddenly crashes. **Many ghosts seen in this level may be former citizens of Cursed Station, due to the fact that the defender's ghosts may have been a militia of sorts, the other people may have been forced to the surrounding tunnels during mutant attacks and were killed by other means (bats, mutants, other ghost i.e. the train, etc.) Khan mentions that those killed by the ghosts often become part of their repeated final moments. *Cursed - Three of them are blocking a small passage, opposite of the barricaded side of the station, and disappear when Artyom demolishes the tunnels. Metro: Last Light Found solely in The Dead City, black ghosts differ than their equivalents in Metro 2033 in that they are detected differently. In The Dead City, never are ghosts seen best by shining a flashlight directly upon them, as doing so makes them fade into invisibility. Instead, ghosts are alternatively best seen on the edge of the flashlight's field, or, more easily, yet far briefer, in flashes of lightning. Black ghosts can also be seen with night vision goggles. - appearing denser with sharper details, though at the sacrifice of bright surroundings. Ghosts remain non-hostile, and cannot harm Artyom at any time. Bloody ghosts too, act in a similar capacity to ghosts - but are notable for their reddish hue, more corporeal nature, and distinct dissolve after materialization. While bloody ghosts are still not a threat to the player, the areas where they are seen in have tense atmospheres with rather disturbing and unsettling noises as ambiance - which, as meta incentive, may deter many from staying for prolonged periods of time. *Echoes - Can all be briefly seen while exploring the side tunnels - before waiting for the watchmen to pass. In one of the rooms to the side, a pay phone mysteriously falls off the receiver when Artyom walks by, and a brief flash of lightning reveals a single black ghost on the wall. Going here awards a moral point. *Regina - While driving Regina, Artyom can stop and investigate multiple rooms (this also gives a high amount of positive moral points). In one of them a very disturbing scene plays: Artyom can see multiple ghosts on what looks to be like broken hospital beds. While walking between them one can hear whispers, and bottles of medicine will crash onto the walls. On the far end one can see a surgeon stand with another ghost. Going there will give a moral point. *Undercity - One can encounter multiple bloody ghosts in the catacombs. Also a darkness anomaly is present here for the first time. *The Dead City - This level is a desolated settlement with ghost encounters as a primary set piece. *Red Square - The damned souls can be found in this level. *Khan - Numerous black ghosts can be found early in the mission, in and around the ruined subway car. A third, unique kind of ghost is also seen, which is three-dimensional like bloody ghosts but flickers instead of fading away, and is either monochrome or normal colored. The ghosts of two children in a small side passage in front of the subway car are seen in this form. Mobile black ghosts can also be seen inside the train, running toward Uhlman before vanishing into thin air. Gallery PixelyGhostsTheDeadCity2.png|Two black ghosts seen in Last Light, caught in a glimpse of lightning. PixelyGhostsTheDeadCity3.png|A number of black ghosts in Last Light, all caught in a flash of lightning. 2013-05-20_00149.jpg|An almost fully phased-in bloody ghost, as seen in Regina. Darkness1.png|Metro Last Light's original, unpatched effect for the Darkness, which made the screen difficult to see through for several seconds. Metro2033_2014-05-01_18-35-11-34.png|Ghost train, seen in Metro 2033. Trivia Novel *The noises from the pipes are assumed by many Metro dwellers to be the voices of the dead, however in the novel, the noises in the pipes (around the Kievskaya/''Park Poebody ''area) are actually the low, ghostly chants from the Savage Cannibals of the Great Worm cult, whose chants can be heard in the pipes to attract children. Video Games * One of the specific "death messages" in Metro 2033 warns you of ghosts and suggests to keep your flashlight on at all times. This is greatly exaggerated, since the player only encounters a handful of ghosts in the game. Additionally, the message seems to be triggered by a number of hazards other than ghosts, such as being hit by the railcar in Front Line. This is probably due to these events all killing the player using the same method. *In Metro 2033, the screen starts turning gray upon getting closer to a ghost, a good indicator to that a ghost is near. *In the level "Ghosts" in Metro 2033, one will see a child ghost, being killed by what appears to be a nosalis ghost. This suggests that the nosalis died shortly after killing the child. Category:Mutants Category:Phenomena